Kaufman Rossin’s Heckaman on moving from the Midwest to Miami

Blain Heckaman came down to Miami in the 80s, about 30 days after securing a job at Miami-based Kaufman Rossin. And he’s been at the firm ever since.

He was drawn to the diversity in South Florida and the people-first environment at Kaufman Rossin.

“It’s a ‘best place to work’ environment, even then before it was in vogue,” he said.

That’s something that hasn’t changed in the three decades.

Where did you grow up? In a small town in northern Indiana. It was an agricultural town. Born and raised, most of my family is still there. I grew up and lived the Hoosier dream: I played basketball and went to college to play. After I realized that basketball wasn’t my future, I got a degree in accounting. When I started out in college, I was a chemistry major, but I realized in the first couple months that everything I had learned in two years of high school was gone. And I had always liked business and ended up in accounting, where I did well.

What did your parents do? My father worked for a local manufacturer as a head of human resources. They manufactured high-end kitchens, modular type stuff. If you get a kitchen today that comes in units, they would build these very high-end wood units. My mother worked in a doctor’s office in accounting. I guess I got it from her, actually.

Was she proud you became an accountant? My parents were very hands off. When I took the SATs, I just took them. Nobody studied; this was the ’70s. People just took them, and when you were a senior, you applied to some colleges in Indiana. My cousins and I were among the first generation to go to college, which was not uncommon in that part of America. It was a great place to be from; I had a great childhood.

What happened after graduation? I got a job right out of college in Elkhart, and worked there for 2.5 years as an auditor. But I decided I needed some sun and fun. I had a college roommate who had married a girl from Miami, so I was coming down here. I was about 24 at the time. He happened to know someone who worked at Kaufman Rossin, and I figured I might as well get a tax-deductible trip down here. I met Jim Kaufman. He offered me a job, and I told him I had to think about it. But I really didn’t. Thirty days later, I was here. It was January 1st.

Did you expect to stay down here for a while? I wasn’t that organized in my thinking. I came down here for a life-changing experience. Miami is an exciting place today, and it was then. It was becoming very international. If you think about northern Indiana, where I’m from, everyone talks the same, looks the same. It was really a fabulous life experience.

What about Miami struck you then? Everything about it was different. The people were interesting, and it’s easier when things are more comfortable. It really brought out the best in me and made it possible to take on challenging things. I came down here with a couple thousand dollars and a car. I woke up every day and it was new people, new things. The work was great.

How has Kaufman Rossin changed, if at all? The culture is very much the same. It’s very people-first. People care about you. And that culture is easy to grow if it’s organic. We do move partners over from other firms, but they have to be a cultural fit before anything else.

What was the path from audit to management? When they were working on successions, they came to me and asked if I wanted to go into management. Probably in about 2000 is when I started. It’s not something I really thought about, but I wanted to try it. I was always more of a relationship person, as opposed to a technical person. And it was a good fit.

What do you do outside of work? I still play basketball. I play at UM’s wellness center, pickup games. I’m usually the older guy on the court, but I enjoy it. I play guard, which is what I played in high school. I’m also an avid boater and I love to spear fish. I play lots of sports, but nothing a lot. I play golf sporadically, I play tennis sporadically. But my passion is to be on the boat and the water. When you’re here and looking out at the water, it’s the place to be. When my family and I travel, oftentimes water is involved.